Highly adjustable lumbar brace

ABSTRACT

A back brace is designed to custom fit a wearer in a multitude of different configurations. First, the back brace could have a lumbar support that is split into upper and lower sections that are connected to a flexible joint, allowing the lumbar support to bend towards the spine of the user. The lumbar support is also generally split into left and right sections that are drawn towards one another while the joint bends towards the lumbar curve. This allows the back brace to conform to the lumbar curve of the wearer as a custom fit. Second, the brace could have optional extenders that alter the support length, width, and height of lumbar and lateral supports about the wearer. Third, the brace could have reinforcement support mechanisms that alter the rigidity of various lumbar and lateral supports about the wearer.

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.13/763964 filed Feb. 11, 2013; which claims priority to and is adivisional of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/036340 filed Feb. 28,2011, now U.S. Pat. No. 8,372,023 issued Feb. 12, 2013, which claimspriority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 61/308728,filed Feb. 26, 2010. All extrinsic materials identified herein areincorporated by reference in their entirety.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The field of the invention is wearable lumbar supports.

BACKGROUND

Orthotic devices are typically provided for partial or substantialimmobilization of the torso to stabilize the back. Some orthotic devicesare back braces that fit around the torso around the lumbar area. Whenworn properly, a body brace can lend additional support to the abdomenand the spinal column to achieve spinal stability. However, for manyusers body braces are difficult to appropriately position and fasten.For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,640,269 to Goins provides a back brace thatis tightened around the body by threading a Velcro strap through a loopand pulling the strap backwards towards the user's posterior. Theawkward angle of the strap prevents users from fully tightening thestrap themselves and requires a third party to assist in the tighteningprocess.

Goins and all other extrinsic materials identified herein areincorporated by reference in their entirety. Where a definition or useof a term in an incorporated reference is inconsistent or contrary tothe definition of that term provided herein, the definition of that termprovided herein applies and the definition of that term in the referencedoes not apply.

US 2007/0017945 to Willis teaches a body brace that wraps around auser's lumbar region and has a belt with a strap that pulls forward tofit the brace around the user. Willis' body brace is easier to tightensince the strap tightens by pulling forward, which is a natural bodymovement. Willis, however, fails to contour to body shapes of differentshapes and sizes, for example differently shaped hips and differentlordotic curves.

U.S. Pat. No. 6,213,968 to Heinz teaches a custom fitted orthotic devicewith cables with a split lumbar support that is tightened around alumbar region using pulleys and cords. Heinz, however, provides eitherrigid support or flexible support, and fails to allow the lumbar supportto flex and bend into the lumbar curve while the lateral support remainsrigid. These and all other extrinsic materials discussed herein areincorporated by reference in their entirety. Where a definition or useof a term in an incorporated reference is inconsistent or contrary tothe definition of that term provided herein, the definition of that termprovided herein applies and the definition of that term in the referencedoes not apply.

Unless the context dictates the contrary, all ranges set forth hereinshould be interpreted as being inclusive of their endpoints, andopen-ended ranges should be interpreted to include commerciallypractical values. Similarly, all lists of values should be considered asinclusive of intermediate values unless the context indicates thecontrary.

It has yet to be appreciated that stiff lumbar supports could haveflexible joints that wrap around a patient's curvature to provide astiff support that is custom fit.

Thus, there is still a need in the art for a body brace that conforms tobody shapes of different shapes and sizes.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides apparatus, systems, and methods in whichone could use a brace to support the lumbar region of a patient byproviding a lumbar support having a joint between upper and lowersections of the lumbar support. The upper and lower sections of thelumbar support are generally rigid with respect to the joint such thatthe joint can move anteriorly relative to the coronal plane of the bodysuch that the joint folds into the curve of the lumbar region and theupper and lower sections “hug” the lumbar region. As used herein, theterm “rigid” refers to a material that will not fold in half withoutpermanently deforming the shape of the material, such as by snapping orbreaking A rigid material may bend slightly under pressure and return toits previous form when such pressure is removed, but will not fold inhalf. Contrast this with a “flexible” material, which could be unfoldedto a planar form and could be folded in half with ease, withoutpermanently deforming the shape of the material.

The upper and lower sections of the lumbar regions preferably have rightand left sections that are coupled together by upper and lowermechanically advantaged systems. Contemplated mechanically advantagedsystems include series of pulleys, gears, levers, screws, orcombinations thereof that provide force to an adjustment mechanism.Preferably, the advantaged adjustment mechanism is mechanicallyadvantaged more than 2:1, and is more preferably mechanically advantagedat 4:1 or more. Additional pulleys or longer levers could easilyincrease the mechanical advantage ratio of the mechanism. Exemplarymechanically advantaged systems are further described in co-pending U.S.application Ser. No. 12/394867, 10/977726, and 10/440525, which are eachincorporated herein by reference.

An exemplary mechanically advantaged system includes pulleys and cordsthat work to draw the left and right sections of the support regiontowards one another, towards the front/anterior side of the wearer. Suchpulley systems could have 2, 3, 4, 5, or more pulleys, depending on thesize and strength needed in such a device. In order to prevent the rightand left sections of the lumbar support from pulling too far apart fromone another, a limiter is preferably provided that prevents the left andright sections from moving a threshold distance away from one another.For example, a limiter could be a cloth, rope, or other material thatcouples the right and left sections without stretching. The limiter ispreferably made from a compressible material to allow the right and leftsections to fold over one another during storage, and also preferablyincludes a hole along the sagittal midplane of the wearer to allow adoctor to access the lumbar region of the wearer without removing thebrace itself.

One or more optional extenders could be coupled with the lumbar supportto extend the effective length, width, or height of the lumbar support,allowing for greater flexibility in the form and function of the brace.The optional extenders could alter the length, width, or height of thelumbar support by a variety of lengths, for example at least 2 inches, 5inches, 10, inches, or 15 inches. Multiple extenders could be configuredto attach to one another, allowing for a variety of extensionconfigurations for wearers of different sizes and/or needs. Rigidreinforcing supports could also be coupled to the lumbar support,overlapping the joint, to prevent the flexible joint from bending incertain configurations.

The body brace preferably also has a rigid lateral support thatreinforces the wearer's oblique muscles. Preferably, the rigid lateralsupport has a surface area greater than 4, 5, 10, 15, or 20 squareinches. In an exemplary embodiment, the rigid lateral support extendsanteriorly past a midline of the wearer. The lateral support may have anoptional extender that couples to the lateral support to extend aneffective length, width, or height of the lateral support, and/or mayoverlap with sections of the lateral support to reinforce a rigidity ofthe lateral support. Such optional extenders could alter the length,width, or height of the lumbar support by a variety of lengths, forexample at least 2 inches, 5 inches, 10, inches, or 15 inches. Multipleextenders may be attached to one another to extend the lateral supportfor a plurality of lengths, or to reinforce the lateral support for aplurality of rigidity strengths.

The present invention provides apparatus, systems and methods in which abody brace is configured to conform and fit a variety of body shapes ofdifferent shapes and sizes.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING

FIG. 1 is a rear plan view of an embodiment of a quick draw brace.

FIG. 2 is a front plan view of the quick draw brace of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a rear plan view of the quick draw brace of FIG. 1, withfitting belts attached to the rear side of the lateral support.

FIG. 4 is an exploded view of the quick draw brace of FIG. 3.

FIG. 5 is a plan, rear view of the quick draw brace of FIG. 1, withfitting belts attached to the front side of the lateral support.

FIG. 6 is an exploded view of the quick draw brace of FIG. 5.

FIG. 7 is a plan view of the quick draw brace of FIG. 6, with thefitting belt folded over.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of the brace of FIG. 1 with the lumbarsupport in a bent position.

FIG. 9 is a rear plan view of an embodiment of an extender.

FIG. 10 is a front plan view of an embodiment of the extender of FIG. 9.

FIG. 11 is a rear plan view of the quick draw brace of FIG. 7 juxtaposedwith the extender of FIG. 9.

FIG. 12 is a rear plan view of the quick draw brace of FIG. 7 with theextender of FIG. 9 attached to the quick draw brace.

FIG. 13 is a rear plan view of a reinforcement panel.

FIG. 14 is a front plan view of the reinforcement panel of FIG. 13.

FIG. 15 is a rear plan view of the extender of FIG. 9 juxtaposed withthe reinforcement panel of FIG. 13.

FIG. 16 is a rear plan view of the extender and reinforcement panel ofFIG. 15 juxtaposed with the quick draw brace of FIG. 7.

FIG. 17 is a rear plan view of the extender, reinforcement panel, andquick draw brace of FIG. 16 coupled with one another.

FIG. 18 is an enlarged, exploded view, showing the cord guide partswithin the upper left and right sections of the brace of FIG. 1.

FIG. 19 is a perspective view of the upper left and right sections ofFIG. 18 in the assembled configuration.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

FIGS. 1 and 2 show a quick draw brace 100 with a lumbar support 110,lateral supports 120 and 130, cords 140 and 150, and limiter 160. Lumbarsupport 110 is split into upper left section 111, lower left section112, upper right section 114, and lower right section 115. Upper leftsection 111 and lower left section 112 are configured to pivot withrespect to one another along flexible joint 113, and likewise upperright section 114 and lower right section 115 are configured to pivotwith respect to one another along flexible joint 116. Upper left section111, lower left section 112, upper right section 114, and lower rightsection 115 are all preferably rigid or semi-rigid in order to providesupport to the upper lumbar curve and the lower lumbar curve of thewearer.

Lateral supports 120 and 130 are preferably made of a semi-rigid orrigid material to provide lateral support to a user. While the currentembodiment shows lateral support 120 being wholly contiguous with leftlumbar support sections 111 and 112, the lateral support could be madeseparately from the lumbar supports without departing from the scope ofthe current invention. It is preferred that the lateral support is asemi-rigid material that is greater than 4 or 5 inches so that thelateral support would pass the midline of the wearer.

In the current embodiment, flexible joints 113 and 116 are created bycreating a thin peninsula of a substantially rigid plastic polymerseparate from the lateral supports 120 and 130. Since the peninsula isso thin (approximately 1.5 centimeters across), the upper and lowersections are able to bend along the joint, whereas they would not beable to if the peninsula was much wider. As shown in FIG. 8, as theupper and lower sections bend inward, the lateral section does not alsobow inward because of the shape of the peninsula. In reality, lateralsection 130 bows outward slightly, which is largely contained when cord150 is pulled against lateral section 130. One skilled in the art wouldunderstand that other flexible joints could be used, for example byusing a cloth lumbar support or by adding a hinge or series of hinges toa more rigid peninsula.

Cords 140 and 150 are attached to pulleys (shown in FIGS. 18 and 19) inthe upper and lower sections in a similar manner to the pulleysdescribed in US2009/0192425 and U.S. Pat. No. 7,001,348. This creates amechanically advantaged system such that when a wearer pulls cords 140and 150, these sections could then fold anteriorly until the flexiblejoint engages the lordotic curve of the wearer's posterior side,allowing for a tighter fit. Since the lateral supports 120 and 130 arecoupled to the lumbar support 110 via thin, semi-rigid peninsulas, thelateral supports do not bend when the cords are pulled. Preferably, thepulley system comprises an elastic band or spring that willautomatically retract the cord when a force ceases to be applied to thecord.

Cords 140 and 150 terminate in handles 142 and 152, which each have hookand loop attachments that could be attached to left and right adjustmentmechanisms 310 and 320 shown in FIGS. 3-8. Left adjustment mechanism 310and right adjustment mechanism 320 preferably both have loop materialalong a majority of their lengths along the front side, to allow cordhandles 142 and 152 to be attached to any portion of the adjustmentmechanism. Right adjustment mechanism 320 also has hook attachmentsalong its tip to allow it to mate with the front side of left adjustmentmechanism 310 when wrapped around a wearer.

Limiter 160 is an underlying cloth that lumbar support 110 is attachedto. Since limiter 160 is made of a substantially inelastic material,limiter 160 prevents cords 140 and 150 from being pulled too far towardsthe holes, effectively controlling the minimum distance that the cordscan be retracted. As used herein, a 5 inches (12.7 cm) of a“substantially inelastic material” does not stretch more than 3 mmwithout tearing. Limiter 160 also has hole 162, which allows access tothe lumbar region of the wearer for emergencies, and also preventsdirect force from being applied to the lumbar region in case of severeinjury.

Right adjustment mechanism 320 attaches to lateral support 130 via holes132. As shown in FIG. 6, hole 132 comprises two opposing bolt recesses133 and 134. This allows right adjustment mechanism to attach to a frontside of a hole as shown in FIG. 4, or attach to the rear side of a holeas shown in FIG. 6. Allowing right adjustment mechanism 320 to attach toeither the front or a rear side of a hole doubles the adjustment lengthas compared to an adjustment mechanism that merely attaches to one sideof the lateral support. It is contemplated that other methods ofattaching adjustment mechanisms 310 and 320 to the lateral supportscould be used, for example buttons, claps, hooks, or even more hook andloop attachments.

As shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, when right adjustment mechanism 320 attachesto the rear side of a hole, the adjustment mechanism needs to threadthrough loophole 136 in order to be orientated correctly for wearing.Loophole 136 is shown as a hole in lateral support 130, but could be arecess (or an open hole) without departing from the scope of theinvention. Since right adjustment mechanism could attach to either afront side or a rear side of the lateral support, the length of rightadjustment mechanism could be altered considerably. Additionally,shorter or longer adjustment mechanisms could be provided to allow aneven greater variability in sizes. The holes could also be used toattach other lateral supports to accommodate larger wearers and extendthe length even further.

The effective height and width of lumbar support 110 could be extendedusing extender 1000 with optional rigid support 1010 and padding 1020,shown in FIGS. 10 and 11. Rigid support 1010 preferably overlaps withsome of the surface of lumbar support 110 to reinforce the rigidity oflumbar support 110. While the drawing illustrates that padding 1020covers hole 1030, it is preferred that padding 1020 has a hole thatmatches hole 1030, preventing any padding from touching the delicatespinal column along the lumbar region, and providing access to thelumbar region. When lumbar support 110 is attached to extender 1000 asshown in FIGS. 12 and 13, the effective height of the lumbar support andthe effective lengths of the lateral supports could be lengthenedconsiderably.

Preferably, the effective height of the lumbar support is lengthened sothat the lumbar support provides support from the sacrococcygealjunction to the 9th thoracic vertebra. This effective height isgenerally greater than 9 inches in an average adult, and may extend morethan 10, 11, 12, 13, or 14 inches, depending on the size of the user. Inanother embodiment, the effective height of the lumbar support could beadjusted by attaching or detaching other extendable support structures.

Unless the context dictates the contrary, all ranges set forth hereinshould be interpreted as being inclusive of their endpoints andopen-ended ranges should be interpreted to include only commerciallypractical values. Similarly, all lists of values should be considered asinclusive of intermediate values unless the context indicates thecontrary.

The effective length that is added by extender 1000 could be furtheraltered by removing lateral extenders 1012 and 1014, or by replacing thelateral extenders with longer or differently shaped extenders. As shownin FIG. 9, lateral extenders 1012 and 1014 mate with bolt holes 1022 and1024, respectively, and overlap with a portion of the rigid support 1010to reinforce the strength of a portion of the rigid support 1010. Therigid support 1010 shown as being constructed from three separatepanels—a mid-panel, a left lateral extender 1012, and a right lateralextender 1014—the rigid support could be made from more or less portionsas needed. Preferably, the rigid support 1010 is made from the samematerial as lateral supports 120 and 130, but could be made fromdifferent material if needed.

FIGS. 15 and 16 show the front and back portions of detachable smallback panel 1600. Small back panel 1600 is preferably made from a rigidmaterial covered in padding to protect the regions close to the spine.As shown in FIGS. 13-17, the small back panel could be wrapped aroundlumbar support 110 to prevent lumbar support 110 from bending into thelumbar curve of the wearer and to add a more rigid support structure tothe lumbar region.

FIGS. 18 and 19 show the configuration of a mechanically advantagedsystem 1800 represented as upper left section 111 and upper rightsection 114, which are pulled together using cord 150. The lower leftand lower right sections are constructed in the same manner. The upperleft section 111 has an upper left cord guide base 38, which has threepulleys, shown in the figure as cord guide lobes 40, 42, and 44 thereon.In addition, the base 38 has posts 46 and 47 which snap into matchingdetents (not shown) in cap 56. The cord guide lobes 40, 42, and 44 arehalf round and are undercut on their half circumference. The under cutis circular in profile and is at least as large as the diameter of thecord. The under cuts are preferably smooth so that cord 150 can beengaged therearound and smoothly moved around the lobes. For smoothmovement, it is preferably that the upper left section 111 and upperright section 114 be made of a low friction polymer, such as nylon orTeflon. The upper right section 114 is similar to upper left section111, and also has three cord guide lobes 50, 52, and 54 on its base 37,which act as pulleys for cord 150. The cord 150 has an eye thereonengaged over post 49 on cord guide 114. The cord 150 engages around love40, lobe 52, and thence lobe 44 to extend out over the base 37. When thecord 150 is pulled, the upper left section 111 and upper right section114 are pulled together with a 4-to-1 mechanical advantage (neglectingfriction). The cord 150 is preferably a strong cord with low frictioncharacteristics with respect to the cord guide lobes, such as nylon.

In order to hold a cord in place on the lobes, caps 56 and 58 could beused to cover the bases 38 and 37, respectively. The caps have halfround recesses 60 that engage over the lobes. The recess 60 engages overlobe 44 to hold the cord in the undercut below the top of lobe 44, andhold the cord loop on the post 49. The caps can be attached in any othersuitable way, for example by using adhesives or mating buttons. Otherpulley mechanisms are contemplated, for example pulleys mounted onwheels.

Thus, specific compositions and methods of providing a back brace havebeen disclosed. It should be apparent, however, to those skilled in theart that many more modifications besides those already described arepossible without departing from the inventive concepts herein. Theinventive subject matter, therefore, is not to be restricted except inthe spirit of the disclosure. Moreover, in interpreting the disclosureall terms should be interpreted in the broadest possible mannerconsistent with the context. In particular the terms “comprises” and“comprising” should be interpreted as referring to the elements,components, or steps in a non-exclusive manner, indicating that thereferenced elements, components, or steps can be present, or utilized,or combined with other elements, components, or steps that are notexpressly referenced.

The invention claimed is:
 1. A brace, comprising: a lateral supporthaving a set of apertures and a loophole; a cord guide base including aset of cord guide lobes and coupled to the lateral support, wherein eachof the cord guide lobes of the set of cord guide lobes is configured toreceive at least one of a first cord and a second cord; a fitting belthaving a connector at an end portion of the fitting belt; wherein eachof the apertures is sized and dimensioned to mate with the connector;and wherein the loophole is sized and dimensioned to allow the fittingbelt and the connector to thread through the loophole when the connectoris mated with at least one of the set of apertures.
 2. The brace ofclaim 1, wherein the fitting belt is configured to mate with a secondfitting belt to adjust a length of the brace.
 3. The brace of claim 1,wherein each of the apertures comprises a keyhole that is sized anddimensioned to allow receipt of at least a portion of the connector. 4.The brace of claim 3, wherein the keyhole further comprises first andsecond widths, and wherein the first width is wider than the secondwidth.
 5. The brace of claim 1, further comprising a limiter coupled tothe lateral support, and wherein the loophole is sized and dimensionedto allow the fitting belt and the connector to thread through theloophole when the end portion of the fitting belt is disposed betweenthe lateral support and the limiter.
 6. The brace of claim 1, furthercomprising: a second lateral support having a second set of aperturesand a second loophole; a second fitting belt having a second connectorat an end portion of the second fitting belt; wherein each of theapertures of the second set is sized and dimensioned to mate with thesecond connector; wherein the second loophole is sized and dimensionedto allow the second fitting belt and the second connector to threadthrough the second loophole; and wherein the second fitting belt isconfigured to couple with the fitting belt to secure the brace to awearer.
 7. The brace of claim 6, wherein the first cord is threadedthrough at least some of the cord guide lobes of the set of cord guidelobes, such that pulling of the first cord in a first direction causes adistance between the lateral support and second lateral support todecrease.
 8. The brace of claim 1, wherein the fitting belt isconfigured to couple to a front side of the lateral support.
 9. Thebrace of claim 1, wherein the loophole is disposed inwardly with respectto the set of apertures.
 10. The brace of claim 1, further comprising alumbar support coupled to the lateral support and configured to providesupport to a lumbar area of a wearer.
 11. A brace, comprising: a lateralsupport coupled to a limiter and having a front side facing away fromthe limiter and a rear side facing toward the limiter; a cord guide baseincluding a set of cord guide lobes and coupled to the lateral support,wherein each of the cord guide lobes of the set of cord guide lobes isconfigured to receive a cord; a fitting belt coupled to the lateralsupport and having a first end portion; a connector disposed on thefirst end portion; wherein the lateral support includes a set ofkeyholes, each of which is sized and dimensioned to mate with theconnector, such that the connector and keyhole couple the fitting beltto the lateral support; and wherein the lateral support further includesa loophole that is sized and dimensioned to allow the fitting belt andthe connector to thread through the loophole when the first end portionof the fitting belt is disposed between the lateral support and thelimiter.
 12. The brace of claim 11, wherein the keyhole comprises firstand second opposing recesses, such that the first fastener is secured tothe lateral support via the first recess when the fitting belt iscoupled to the front side of the lateral support, and is secured to thelateral support via the second recess when the fitting belt is coupledto the rear side of the lateral support.
 13. The brace of claim 11,wherein the fitting belt is configured to mate with a second fittingbelt to adjust a length of the brace.
 14. The brace of claim 11, whereinthe fitting belt is configured to mate with a second fitting belt toadjust a length of the brace.
 15. The brace of claim 11, furthercomprising a cap configured to attach to the cord guide base.
 16. Thebrace of claim 11, wherein the cord is threaded through at least some ofthe cord guide lobes, such that pulling of the cord in a first directioncauses a distance between the lateral support and a second lateralsupport to decrease.
 17. The brace of claim 11, wherein the loophole isfurther configured to allow the fitting belt to thread through theloophole when the connector of the fitting belt is coupled to a rearside of the lateral support and mated with at least one of the keyholes.18. The brace of claim 11, further comprising an extender that extendsan effective height of the lumbar support.
 19. The brace of claim 11,wherein the loophole is disposed inwardly with respect to the set ofkeyholes.
 20. The brace of claim 11, further comprising a lumbar supportconfigured to provide support to a lumbar area of a wearer, and whereinthe lumbar support is coupled to the lateral support via the limiter.